Agenda item

Scrutiny Review - Support Provided to the Retail Sector by Durham County Council

(i)          Report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships.

(ii)         Presentation by the Overview and Scrutiny Officer.

Minutes:

The Chairman asked the Overview and Scrutiny Officer, Diane Close to speak to Members in relation to the draft report and recommendations in relation to the Support Provided to the Retail Sector by Durham County Council (for copy see file of minutes). 

 

The Overview and Scrutiny Officer reminded Members of the background to the review, with the topic being identified in 2017, with the review beginning in December 2017.  It was explained there had been 11 meetings and a number of site visits, with the evidence base set out within the draft report.

 

The Committee were informed of the work in terms of the key findings of the report and draft recommendations as set out within the presentation document.  Members noted the 11 recommendations relating to: the County Durham Town Centre Survey; the County Durham Plan; IT connectivity; masterplans; business support; targeted business support; training opportunities; business rate relief; traffic and parking management; and Area Action Partnerships.

 

The Chairman thanked the Officers involved from Overview and Scrutiny and the relevant services, as well as partners and the Members of the working group itself.  She asked the Committee for their comments and questions.

 

Councillor J Clare noted that he had been the Members to ask as regards this topic to be the subject of a review by the Committee.  He noted he was delighted with the report, identifying the large number of activities undertaken by the Council and partners.  He added that beyond this cataloguing there was a number of practical and achievable recommendations set out, and he noted that the report chimed well with the “Town and Village Centres – Way Forward” report that was due to be considered by Cabinet next week.  Councillor J Clare noted that it was also clear that there was work to be done by entrepreneurs and retailers in terms of training of staff and the visitor economy.  He also extended his thanks to Officers, Members and the Chairman for all their hard work and asked that his thanks was also recorded.

 

Councillor E Scott echoed the comments of Councillor J Clare in thanks to the Chairman for her efforts in relation to the review and noted that the Town Centre Survey data was incredibly detailed and suggested that it be shared with Members for their information.

 

The Chairman thanked Members for their kind comments and noted that the review had shown that there were a variety of issues and that there was not a “one size fits all” approach that could be taken.

 

Councillor E Adam noted the large amount of work that the Council was doing in terms of the retail, however, he did not see the linked issue of transport mentioned specifically within the report.  The Chairman noted that issues in terms of rural areas was linked in with those areas’ Masterplans, and some issues such as “bay blocking” of car parking where areas were in a commuter area or close to employment centres had been identified.  She added that to look at transport in depth would have warranted a separate piece of work.  Councillor E Adam noted the approach taken by the authority to Christmas parking schemes with the issues previously mentioned in terms of free parking.

 

Councillor P Jopling noted when looking at the effects of out of town developments, they appeared to increase congestion and asked if the excellent schemes in terms of business rate relief had been captured within the report and what had been discussed in terms of being able to influence rent levels.  The Chairman noted there had been Officers from the Council’s rates section in attendance to provide information.  She added that Letting Agents had attended a meeting and had explained the difficulties faced in terms of lettings, for example first floor spaces above shop units.  The Chairman hoped that individual Masterplans could look to their area as regards the most appropriate actions to take and to tease out the relevant issues specific to each town centre.

 

Councillor P Howell noted the work undertaken and that on many occasions there had been conflicting evidence, demonstrating indeed that “one sized did not fit all”.  He added that in some cases it was not necessarily for the Council to lead, rather to “get out of the way” and allow landlords and retailers to take up whatever initiatives they wished to.  He noted the recommendations within the report, and suggested that attaching timescales would be helpful in ensuring delivery against the issues.  The Chairman noted that it would be for each town centre to feed issues into their Masterplans.  Councillor P Howell noted he endorsed the point made by Councillor E Scott in terms of circulating the link to the Town Centre Survey data.  The Chairman noted the data was very detailed and useful and that Officers would share the link.

 

Mrs R Morris reinforced that the report was excellent and that she felt that a proactive approach was key and that regular reports back to the Committee on progress relating to the recommendations would be important.

 

Councillor A Patterson noted that broadband provision was a cross-cutting issues and that an update is to come back to committee in February in relation to the Digital Durham. Programme.

 

Resolved:

 

(i)      That the report of the Scrutiny Review Group looking at the Support Provided to the Retail Sector by Durham County Council be approved.

(ii)     That the report of the Review Group be submitted to Cabinet for consideration at its meeting on 16 January 2019 and to a future meeting of the County Durham Economic Partnership.

 

Supporting documents: